


Terms

by regdog



Series: Trine Leader Series [4]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25248277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/regdog/pseuds/regdog
Summary: Terms of peace are discussed. Starscream spends time with Rumble::com speak::
Relationships: Starscream/Thundercracker/Skywarp
Series: Trine Leader Series [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1280147
Comments: 6
Kudos: 71





	Terms

**Author's Note:**

> I had problems with this. I don't know what I hit on my keyboard but on two different occasions, it deleted everything I had written for this update and nothing had autosaved.

“Microforceps, please.” Starscream held out his servo, not looking up from what he was doing.

Rumble placed the delicate instrument in the waiting servo.

“Thank you,” Starscream said, making the necessary adjustment to the small AI processor he was working on. Rumble was proving himself to be an adept and enthusiastic lab partner. Quick to learn and eager to help.

It irked Starscream how little the other Decepticons thought of Rumble and all of Soundwave’s creations for that matter. It was much like how little they thought of Skywarp. All the other Decepticons saw hyperactive, pranking troublemakers. That was not who they were but how they coped.

Skywarp’s warp drive was always running calculations for a jump. Couple that with Action coding, millennia of war and being trapped underwater in their base and Skywarp was a jittery, over alert bundle of energy. Rumble was a youngling, denied any sort of a normal life by Soundwave’s enslavement in the Gladiator Pits and then the war. He and his siblings literally went from slaves to child soldiers. It was only natural for them to act out. Yes, Rumble and Frenzy acted out more than their co-creations but so what. They were barely teenagers by age comparison to humans and little Ratbat was still a child.

“Star?” Rumble pulled the Seeker from his musings.

“Yes?”

“I asked how long ‘Tuny will have to stay in the regen chamber?” Rumble was watching the Mars rover floating in the viscous fluid.

“At least until tomorrow. She has a lot of grit and sand lodged in her joints and seams. It got everywhere inside her.”

“I don’t know why humans are obsessed with Mars and wanting to live there. The place sucks. It’s dry, hot and has storms for months at a time and the fragging sand is everywhere. It sticks to and gets into all your inner workings and then grates at your joints,” Rumble said, squirming and giving a full body shiver.

“They are a strange species. Maybe humans are obsessed with it because it is mysterious and they need to unravel the mysterious,” Starscream said.

“Then we can undo the mystery for them. Mars sucks, you don’t want to live there. Oh, and if you do, you’re going to have to live is dead lava tubes, underground.” Rumble turned back to Opportunity. He placed a servo on the regen tank, shifted uncomfortably and then wrung his servos. “She was trapped in the dark for so long.”

Placing the microforceps down, Starscream moved Spirit to the side. “You okay?”  
He gently brushed the back of hand over Rumble’s cheek strut.

“If I tell you something, promise not to laugh or tell anyone?” 

“Of course.”

“I hate the dark. I’m so scared of it. Not Dad’s dock obviously, that’s home but everywhere else, especially closed dark places. Back on Cybertron when we used to have to infiltrate the stronghold of Iacon, we used to have to go through the sewers to get in.

“They were awful, Star. Scraplets. Empties. The noises. Even with thermal imaging, I couldn’t see what was making the noises. They echoed all around me. I could feel things watching me, following me.

“It wasn’t any better in the air ducts of the Autobot bases. Even here sneaking into the Ark. Red Alert could hear things no Cybertronian should be able to. He hears and knows everything. The Autobots laugh at him for it. Say he’s paranoid. He’s not. He’s scary good at what he does. I kept waiting for him to reach in the vent, drag me out and turn me over to Jazz. 

“I don’t like Jazz. He’s crazy you know. I’ve seen some of the things he’s done. He was Sentinel’s interrogator and torturer. I think Optimus put a restraining collar on Jazz when Sentinel was killed. Only good thing Megatron ever did was kill Sentinel.” Fluid leaked freely from Rumble’s optics. He made no attempt to wipe them away.

Starscream wrapped his arms around the casetticon, placing his in his lap. Kissing the young mech’s helm. Starscream rocked him back and forth. His own optics leaking. 

“I hated when he used to beat on you. We all did, especially Dad. He knew you were telling Megatron the truth when you criticized his plans. I’m glad Thundercracker killed him.”

“So am I,” Starscream said through his own tears. 

As his own tears faded away Starscream reached into his subspace and pulled out a soft polishing cloth. He wiped his faceplates then Rumble’s.

“Don’t tell,” Rumble whispered.

“Never.” Starscream pressed his helm to Rumble’s.

Rumble climbed off Starscream lap back onto the lab table, peering into Spirit’s inner workings. As he handed Starscream the microforceps, the lab door chime ran and rang and rang and rang. 

“On it,” Rumble said, jumping off the table and slapping his servo on the speaker. “Who is it?” the casseticon sing-songed with a grin, as Starscream laughed. Rumble dissuaded more visitors to the lab with his annoying “Doorman” routine than Starscream had by outright punching them. 

“Open. Open. Open. Boss’s orders.” Came the chirping voice of Sojourner.

Rumble opened the door and a whirling, clicking, beeping Sojourner came careening into the lab and began bumping Starscream’s thruster. “Boss says time to fuel. Boss says time to fuel.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I’m done,” Starscream said, gently nudging the Mars rover back.

“Nope nope nope. Now now now now now. Boss says now.” Each ‘now’ was punctuated with a bump to Starscream’s thruster.

“Soji, stop being a jerk. Star’s working. You want your sisters to be fixed don’t you? Why don’t you go annoy Curiosity? ” Rumble said, picking the rover up. Little wheels whirled at top speed.

“Down down down. Boss says now.”

Closing Spirit’s casing, Starscream set the microforceps down and stood. Stretching and causing his spinal struts to pop. Maybe he had been working long enough for one day. “Okay micromonster, go tell Boss, we’re on our way.”

Rumble placed Sojourner back on the ground and the little rover whirred out of the lab, beeping and whistling as he went.

“That one is going to be a problem,” Rumble said.

“He would latch onto Thundercracker. Now I’ll never have a moment of peace. He’ll always be getting me out of the lab,” the Seeker groused as he guided Rumble out of the lab and keyed the locking code.

Entering the rec room, Rumble bounced over to Soundwave as Starscream went to get energon. The Seeker placed an energon cube in front of Rumble and received a nod from Soundwave and helm bump from Ravage. Giving the felinoid a gentle pat, Starscream then continued on to join Thundercracker and Skywarp. Sojourner rocked back and forth near Thundercracker’s pedes.

“Must you send that little menace to interrupt my work?” Starscream asked, sitting on Thundercracker’s left side. Skywarp already sitting on his trine leader’s right.

“Sojourner is not a menace. He’s a good little mech who keeps you from over working. Don’t you?” Thundercracker asked, lifting the rover onto the table.

“Yes yes yes. I’m good. I do what Boss wants. Boss is the best boss,” came the answer.

::Star is there something you can do about his speech glitch?:: Thundercracker asked over comms not wanting to upset Sojourner.

::It’s not a glitch. He watches The Land Before Time movies way too much.::

:Ahh.::

Listening to the conversation even though he wasn’t taking part in it, Skywarp got a devious glint in his optics.

“Not one Monty Python quote out of you,” Thundercracker said. Skywarp snapped his mouthplates closed. “Or Star Wars, or Brooklyn99.”

“Or Game of Thrones,” Starscream added.

“You two just want to suck the joy out of everything,” Skywarp groused, dropping his helm on the table.

“Or Guardians of the Galaxy,” Starscream and Thundercracker said together, prompting Skywarp to flip them both off.

Laughing Thundercracker placed the rover back on the floor and took a long drink of his energon. His wings brushing those of his trinemates. 

Skywarp’s wing tapped his trine leader’s wing playful affection. Starscream pressed his wing into Thundercracker’s.  
“How are the terms going for the treaty signing?” Starscream asked.

“Onslaught, Soundwave treaty updates please,” Thundercracker called out.

Soundwave and his cassettes came and sat with the Elite Trine. Soundwave sitting across from Thundercracker. Rumble taking his usual place in Starscream’s lap, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw perched on Soundwave’s shoulder struts, while Ravage lounged on the table itself. Ratbat was docked in Soundwave’s chest. To everyone’s concern, Frenzy plopped himself next to Skywarp. 

Onslaught stood, removed Curiosity from his shoulder struts and placed the rover on the table with the rest of the Combaticons and Astrotrain and Blitzwing. Curiosity had attached himself to the gesalt and triple changers as Sojourner had attached himself to Thundercracker.

The gesalt leader joined the group, sitting next to Soundwave. The two removed datapads from their subspaces. Onslaught took the lead.

“We have finalized most of the major terms, including amnesty and pardons for everyone’s actions during the war. Peace won’t be attained by putting any of the few of us who remain on trial for war crimes.

“The humans were a little put out by that but Prowl and Prime dealt with them. As much as I think Prowl is an uptight, neurotic twerp, I give him credit. He can argue facts, semantics and minutia until the opposition drops and concedes just from sheer mind melting exhaustion.

“The Japanese are giving us Hashima Island in exchange for Starscream’s help with the residual radiation from Fukashima and his willingness to help them make their alternative energy sources better. 

“We will be otherwise left alone by the humans. Although we do have the right to negotiate trades with humans or governments.

“No political or weapon alliances will be made with any government or human organization with either Autobots or Decepticons. 

“Soundwave did a lot of research and with what he found we have secured salvage rights to any abandoned technology or machinery provided we do not use for weapons manufacturing.” Soundwave dimmed his visor in a wink to Starscream.

At that moment, Sojourner went pelting by the gathered mechs beeping and chirring, spun out and came racing back.

“As though human technology is better than ours,” Skywarp snorted.

“One batch had promise,” Starscream said smiling at the little rover. Shaking his wings, Starscream’s demeanor changed. “Given all that has transpired there is something that I’ve been considering. If mechs are going to have the ability to come and go at will, I think we should add neither faction’s Special Ops teams should ever approach anyone from the other side without first comming and getting explicit permission.”

“Something specific bothering you, Star?” Thundercracker asked.

“Not at all, but enough of us have been unwilling guests of the other and both teams of Special Ops made those visits less than pleasant. I can’t imagine any of us would be all to happy to have Jazz melt out of the dark or Mirage shimmer into view when we weren’t expecting it. Battle protocols will not disengage easily after millennia of war.”

“Starscream makes a good point. I can’t imagine too many Autobots would welcome Vortex or Barricade showing up unannounced,” Onslaught added. Thundercracker nodded his agreement.

“You think they’re related?” Frenzy piped up.

“Who?” Skywarp looked at the casetticon to his right.

“Prowl and Barricade. I mean, they’re both Enforcers. They’re both hardafts. Neither has a sense of humor. OR you think they were swapping cables before the war? Huh Huh?” Frenzy wiggled his optic shutters.

“FRENZY DESIST!” Soundwave barked, scrubbing his servo down his faceplates.

::Seriously:: Ravaged commed them all, slapping Frenzy with his tail and covering his own optics with his front paws.

“Dude,” Rumble groaned, twisting in Starscream’s grasp. 

“Let’s go, you. I’m going for a flight and I think it’s best if you come with me,” Skywarp said, scooping Frenzy under his servo like a football.

“Hey, put me down,” the casetticon protested.

“Would Frenzy prefer Soundwave find something for him to do?” the carrier mech asked.

“Flying with ‘Warp it is.” The pair’s laughter followed them out of the rec room.

“Is that really a good idea?” Starscream asked.

“It keeps them both away from the rest of us, so yes,” Thundercracker deadpanned. “Now, let’s finish going to over the terms.”

::Thank you:: Rumble commed Starscream, clutching tightly to the former Air Commnader.

“You’re welcome, bitlet.:: 

*****************************  
_In science news, NASA has been unable to make any contact with Mars Rover Curiosity and after 7 months have given up any hopes of communication with the rover and are calling the mission complete._

Optimus clicked off the radio as Prowl and Jazz entered his office.

“Hey Boss mech, what news from the ‘Cons?” Jazz asked, flopping gracefully into a chair.

“Everything has been agreed upon with the exception of one new provision. With both factions moving about freely now, if any member of the Autobot or Decepticon Special Ops teams come across any member of the opposing faction, they have to comm and get explicit permission to approach,” Optimus said, scrolling down his computer terminal.

“Logical,” Prowl said.

“Our deeds and reputations precede us with good reason, Boss,” Jazz said. “My team won’t have a problem with that.”

“Yes. Hopefully now, we can begin anew and put the discord and mistrust behind us,” Optimus said, as the three went over the terms one more time.

************************************  
“You okay?” Skywarp asked, as Starscream stretched out on their shared berth.

“Fine,” Starscream answered.

“Interesting late addition to the treaty,” Thundercracker said, lying on his front. “Want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Star.”

“I’m fine, TC. I won’t talk about it,” Starscream said, taking on his former Air Commander and Second-in Command tone.

Thundercracker stared long and hard at his Vision. “Rumble. I won’t ask you to tell me, but is there anything Soundwave or I need to be concerned about?”

Starscream shook his helm. “No. I’m sure Soundwave already knows. Let his creations choose what jobs they want to do and allow them to quit any that makes them uncomfortable.”

“Of course.”

“Did the Autobots agree?” Skywarp asked.

“They did. Now we just have to sign the treaty. We had to concede and agree to a formal ceremony with them and the humans.”

“We’ve survived worse. Once it’s signed we can move to Hashima Island and start to really live,” Starscream purred, snuggling in between his Action and Order.


End file.
